A day as an economic developer (VIDEO)

Published: Saturday, January 11, 2014 at 01:14 PM.

It would be nice if a business owner took one look at our sugar-white beaches and warmer weather than most of the country and instantly decided to locate in Northwest Florida.

Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works in most cases.

For my latest adventure in trying out different jobs in the community, I recently spent a day working as an economic developer for Florida’s Great Northwest, which was founded in 2000 to market and brand the 16-county Northwest Florida region as a competitive location for business.

Working at Florida’s Great Northwest, even if it was just a day, was a treat.

Florida’s Great Northwest has organized a marketing trip to New York and New Jersey this week for a small delegation to meet with companies and site selection consultants. Among those attending are Shannon Ogletree, economic development director for Santa Rosa County, Cliff Krut, senior economic development representative for Gulf Power, and Ed Gardner, economic development representative for PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, among others.

A good portion of my day was spent on finalizing some preparations for the trip.

I put together 30 information packets the delegates will give out to people they meet. The packets have promotional information on the region’s aerospace climate and manufacturing.

I used to receive press packets like this all the time (now most of those are done through email), but this was the first time I compiled the packets myself. I think they turned out pretty good.

Most of the meetings for the week already have been scheduled. However, the group still was trying to get a confirmation from KLG Advisors, one of the largest site selection firms in the country.

So Larry Sassano, president of Florida’s Great Northwest, had me call Timothy Nitti, one of the principals of KLG, to see if he would be available to meet with the visitors Tuesday or Wednesday so they could present the 2014 marketing strategy for our region.

Unfortunately, Nitti will be out of the office for much of next week and won’t be available for the face-to-face meetings. However, he does want to Florida’s Great Northwest to call him later in the month.

As a funny side note, I was amazed when I called KLG, told them who I was and that I was representing Florida’s Great Northwest that they put me right through to Nitti’s line. If I had called saying I was with the Northwest Florida Daily News, I’m guessing I would have been sent to his assistant and told he was unavailable.

If only there wasn’t an ethical problem with making all of my calls going forward saying I was a representative of Florida’s Great Northwest.

Q&A with Larry Sassano, president of Florida’s Great Northwest:

Dusty: How did I do?

Larry: You did great. Putting the brochures together and making that phone call, that’s your first call, it’s a cold call and those are tough to do. With the little bit of background that I gave you, I thought you handled it beautifully.

D: What type of experience do you look for?

L: It’s become more of a science industry. It’s not a good-ole-boy thing anymore like it was years ago. To become an economic developer today, you need to have a good understanding of tax structures, economics, transportation. Finance is a big factor. All of those are important because you can’t get in front of a CEO and if he asks you a question and you don’t know how to answer it properly, you’re going to kill a potential project for your state or your community.

D: What is the average salary?

L: It’s all over the board based on your location, the size of the community, your experience and all of those factors combined.

D: Am I hirable?

L: Absolutely. You’re good because you’re good at coming up with the questions that are important to think about. So when you’re evaluating what you’re doing here, you’re going out on a mission, you have a good rapport with people. You’re quick to go in, talk to people, ask questions. You’re not shy about talking to people.

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It would be nice if a business owner took one look at our sugar-white beaches and warmer weather than most of the country and instantly decided to locate in Northwest Florida.

Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works in most cases.

For my latest adventure in trying out different jobs in the community, I recently spent a day working as an economic developer for Florida’s Great Northwest, which was founded in 2000 to market and brand the 16-county Northwest Florida region as a competitive location for business.

Working at Florida’s Great Northwest, even if it was just a day, was a treat.

Florida’s Great Northwest has organized a marketing trip to New York and New Jersey this week for a small delegation to meet with companies and site selection consultants. Among those attending are Shannon Ogletree, economic development director for Santa Rosa County, Cliff Krut, senior economic development representative for Gulf Power, and Ed Gardner, economic development representative for PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, among others.

A good portion of my day was spent on finalizing some preparations for the trip.

I put together 30 information packets the delegates will give out to people they meet. The packets have promotional information on the region’s aerospace climate and manufacturing.

I used to receive press packets like this all the time (now most of those are done through email), but this was the first time I compiled the packets myself. I think they turned out pretty good.

Most of the meetings for the week already have been scheduled. However, the group still was trying to get a confirmation from KLG Advisors, one of the largest site selection firms in the country.

So Larry Sassano, president of Florida’s Great Northwest, had me call Timothy Nitti, one of the principals of KLG, to see if he would be available to meet with the visitors Tuesday or Wednesday so they could present the 2014 marketing strategy for our region.

Unfortunately, Nitti will be out of the office for much of next week and won’t be available for the face-to-face meetings. However, he does want to Florida’s Great Northwest to call him later in the month.

As a funny side note, I was amazed when I called KLG, told them who I was and that I was representing Florida’s Great Northwest that they put me right through to Nitti’s line. If I had called saying I was with the Northwest Florida Daily News, I’m guessing I would have been sent to his assistant and told he was unavailable.

If only there wasn’t an ethical problem with making all of my calls going forward saying I was a representative of Florida’s Great Northwest.

Q&A with Larry Sassano, president of Florida’s Great Northwest:

Dusty: How did I do?

Larry: You did great. Putting the brochures together and making that phone call, that’s your first call, it’s a cold call and those are tough to do. With the little bit of background that I gave you, I thought you handled it beautifully.

D: What type of experience do you look for?

L: It’s become more of a science industry. It’s not a good-ole-boy thing anymore like it was years ago. To become an economic developer today, you need to have a good understanding of tax structures, economics, transportation. Finance is a big factor. All of those are important because you can’t get in front of a CEO and if he asks you a question and you don’t know how to answer it properly, you’re going to kill a potential project for your state or your community.

D: What is the average salary?

L: It’s all over the board based on your location, the size of the community, your experience and all of those factors combined.

D: Am I hirable?

L: Absolutely. You’re good because you’re good at coming up with the questions that are important to think about. So when you’re evaluating what you’re doing here, you’re going out on a mission, you have a good rapport with people. You’re quick to go in, talk to people, ask questions. You’re not shy about talking to people.